Fitness

August 21, 2014

TurboKick Certification and St. Louis Adventures

It’s Throwback Thursday.

And I’m throwing it back to September 2013.

That counts, right?

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In front of the St. Louis Arch

 

Last Fall, Clint traveled with me to St. Louis, Missouri so I could attend a TurboKick certification class.    Turbo is one of my favorite classes to teach, aside from Insanity.

TurboKick is a mixture of kickboxing, shadow boxing,  sports drills, yoga, and simple dance moves that is highly choreographed.  Turbo makes you work your butt off while having a total blast.   Now – before you run away screaming because I said the word dance – just know it is nothing like Zumba or Jazzercise.   I am not much of a dancer…. or well… not much of a dancer in the shake your butt “look at me  – look at me” kind of way.  Yuck.  This is different.  It’s fun.  It’s work.  You’ll feel it.

 

My day started off at the JCC -St Louis which is a BEAUTIFUL facility.  Holy smokes!

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All participants signed in, met our instructor Sara, got a folder of information and then got to work!

 

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The outline for the day basically went as follows:

  • Check-in
  • Welcome
  • TurboKick Background Information/History
  • Warm-up
  • Form and Technique Practice
  • BREAK
  • Choreography and Physiology
  • Music, proper cueing, attire, creating a fun atmosphere
  • Full Workout – SO FUN!
  • LUNCH
  • Injury, Incident Reporting, Pregnancies, Age, Adaptations
  • Review technique
  • Small group technique and cueing
    • We were split into groups of 4-5 where we each were given a section to memorize and “teach” the rest of our group members
  • Full Class Demonstration with small group leaders
    • I was chosen from my small group to lead our large group – so fun!
  • Question/Answer Time
  • Practical Tests
    • We were lined up and demonstrated technique and form on cue
  • Written Test
    • Ungraded- completed in a group format.
  • GROUP PHOTO

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Sara – our Master Trainer – is in the yellow on the left.  She is SO GREAT!

I am basically dead center in the back row.  See me? 🙂

 

The Certification was scheduled to run from 8-5, however, we got out a little early since we were basically the best class Sara has ever had.   Clint came to pick me up and we headed back to the hotel so I could shower and then head out for a date night in downtown St. Louis!

 

First Up:  The Arch of course!

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I had visited the Arch YEARS ago with my family, however, it was so cool seeing it again and experiencing the sheer magnitude of this thing.   Sadly we missed the cut off for the rides to the top, but considering my finicky belly, it was probably ok.

After a quick walk around the Arch and tourist watching, we headed down to Laclede’s Landing for some beers and pizza.

 

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What a cool location!  If you visit St. Louis you MUST take a walk through Laclede’s.  Tons of bars, restaurants and even a wax museum!   I was starving by this point after basically exercising ALL day so we landed ourselves at the Morgan Street Brewery.

First up?  A flight of beers, of course!

 

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YUM!

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What a sexy son-of-a-gun that hubby of mine is. 😉

 

Clint kept talking about how we HAD to order pizza since St. Louis is apparantly known for the Provel cheese they use?  I knew nothing about it, but am always up for some pizza, so we ordered two.   Clint chose the Italian Sausage and Pepperoni and I ordered the Veggie & Portabella.

 

Oh.  My.  Gosh, you guys.  This pizza is SERIOUS.  

Heavy, rich, and so filling.  I barely could even get down ONE slice.   It was insane.

 

Sadly no photos, since we took this trip PRIOR to starting up the ol blog.  Who knew I’d want photos of my damn food?  ha

Just trust me.  If you go – order the pizza.  But just one.   And Clint and I both agree that the Veggie & Portabella is THEE way to go.

Following Laclede’s we went to this little corner bar off the beaten path and enjoyed a few beers while we watched and laughed at this large group of folks who had clearly been having a great evening of beer drinking themselves.

Our little trip to St. Louis was a quick one!  Far more time in the car than in the city, however, it was successful!   TurboKick certified and a night out in a new city with my main squeeze.  Can’t think of a better way to spend a random September weekend!

 

 

Cheers, my friends.

June 28, 2014

Vega Sport Review

Thanks to my Sweat Pink Sisters and my affiliation as an ambassador, I was given the opportunity to do a #FuelYourBetter Review on Vega Sport Performance Protein.

 

Vega Sport

 

I was really excited to try the product as it is a plant based, no sugar added, dairy gluten and soy free protein supplement.  Finding a protein drink that tastes good by itself is a difficult task.   Finding one that tastes good and doesn’t contain all the chemicals and processing yuckiness is even more difficult.

 

Vega Sport

 

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this tasted by just mixing with water.  Typically I make my protein shakes with almond milk and blended with ice.   I wanted to put the Vega Sport through a true test by mixing and drinking it without the ‘doctoring’ up.     Of course, my preferred method is definitely blended in ice with milk but it is nice to be reassured that for convenience sake, this is good shaken with plain ol’ water too.

 

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A couple more bonuses is that it is packed in individual packets making it travel friendly.  AND there are 26grams of protein in each packet plus 5,000mg of BCAA’s.   Branched-Chain Amino Acids are key in endurance and muscle repair.    Finding this in a protein drink is a win-win situation.   For more info on BCAA’s visit this website.

 

If you are looking for a plan based protein supplement, I highly recommend Vega Sport.   They have multiple products to choose from that will help you reach your goals.

#FuelYourBetter Review

 

vega-sport-performance-system

 

** I was given this product for free in return for my review.  All opinions are my own.

June 9, 2014

Monday Motivation – Patience

be patient

Quote Credit: Fit2Fat2Fit

 

I share a private Facebook page with a group of incredibly inspiring women.   We come from all different walks of life and we each have our own unique and very different goals that we are striving to reach.

But, the one thing we share is the drive to be the best ME we can possibly be.

We share stories, swap recipes, give virtual Hi-Fives, offer encouragement, help soothe the “I ate that entire cake” regrets, challenge each other with exercise circuits and provide support to each other – no matter what.   Some are incredibly active in the group.  Others are fly’s on the wall.   In whatever capacity they are participating, they are benefiting.   We all are.

I posted the above picture first thing this morning with the following words:

I hate the scale this morning. Hate it so much I took out the measuring tape. Nothing gained, nothing lost. Holding steady.

Frustrating? Yes.

Do I want to throw in the towel? Yes.

Do I want lypo? Yes (lol).

Lifestyle changes are hard. Balancing it all is harder. Starting off the day negative only leads to more negativity.

I’m reminding myself I’m athletic. That’s never a word I would have used 5 years ago to describe myself. I can kill an insanity routine followed by a weight session.

I may have fat. But I’M not fat.

Tell yourself something positive today.

And note: things are changing within you whether you see them or not.

 

I was very frustrated this morning, but I refused to allow those frustrations dictate my day.   Negativity breeds negativity.  Body shaming is something we all struggle with and the one thing we have got to get control of as strong, independent women.

In true fashion, a few of the ladies chimed in with words of encouragement and similar feelings.

One thing they have all said so far is:  I needed to hear that.

Find something you like about yourself and say it out loud.  Give yourself a pat on the back.

Change takes patience, time and focus.

Like the picture says:   things are happening behind the scenes.

Trust the process, give yourself a Hi-Five and keep on moving.

 

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June 8, 2014

The Blogettes, E-Money, Mud Wars and Beer

I don’t know about any of you, but I keep looking at my clock wishing it was bedtime already.   Man I need some serious zzz’s.   Why not take a nap, you ask?

Because, I don’t do naps.

Lame, I know, but they just make me feel worse, so I fight the sleep in true toddler fashion until my actual bed time.

So, how about a recap?

 

weekend-recap

 

Friday:  Our friends Cyndi and John came to town.   First stop- dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube.

 

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And a giant Lube Tube of ice cold Bud Light.  Clint always wants to get one of these babies when it is just the two of us out to dinner.   Eh… I’d be a hot mess trying to get all that down.   FINALLY someone to help fulfill that dream of his.

Weekends with these two are never dull.

Case in point:

 

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Oh man, I don’t know who the owner is of this little gem, but it keeps finding its way back into our lives.  Exactly one year ago, this same picture happened with this same exact car.   Seriously.    It’s like destiny for these boys.  What are the odds that we’d see this car on the weekend they were in town?

Thank you to the owner of this masterpiece.   You made their day.

Again.

After the car hugging, we made our way into the MAC  to see Eddie Money and Rick Springfield.

 

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Thanks to the connections made with the Omaha Bloggers group (specifically Katie!) I received tickets for me AND to giveaway.   You can find the Concert Recap here.

There were several of us Blogettes (<—- yep, John.  I’m using it) at the concert, so we all got together for a photo opp between sets!

 

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Left to Right you’ve got:

Erin from Girl Gone Veggie – Angel from Positively Angel – Lisa from Midwest Mammas and Sweeties Freebies – Leslie from Mom on the Rocks – Yours Truly – Lisa from The Walking Tourists – Megan from Smile Like You Mean It

It was so great to meet a few more Omaha Bloggers.   This makes 10 that I’ve met so far.  The other gals I met this night and one other, Jess, I ran into at a YMCA event.

~

Saturday:  Warrior Dash, Nebraska!

This is the second year Clint and I have run the Warrior.   The 2013 Dash was actually the last time J and C were in town.

The Pre-Dash Walk.   Isn’t Clint’s outfit just precious?

Oh, that man of mine….

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I was able to meet up with my YMCA family prior to the race start as well!   Such a GREAT group of peeps.  LOVE them all.

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And look who else I found?!?!

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JEN!  I was so excited to see that chick.  She is a freaking machine.   Jen and I met at a former place we occasionally called work and we’ve managed to keep in touch.   We really need to meet up more though.  We have sucked at that.

When are we going to schedule an actual happy hour, Jen?  As in, a real one.  Not a “let’s just talk abut it” one.

By the way, Jen owns a little piece of the blog-o-sphere too, so y’all should give her a shout at Red Lipstick and Sneakers.

Ok, back to the Dash.

The obstacles were awesome this year!  I conquered my fear of heights multiple times thanks to obstacles titled Deadman’s Drop:

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and the Cargo Climb:

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In addition to the climbing, we did a lot of crawling, sliding and swimming.   The last obstacle course required all of those components:

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No control on that slide.  Hella fast.   The water (shit water, mind you) at the bottom was FREEZING and thanks to no control on the slide, there was no way to bypass going all the way under.   Shock to the ol system, my friends.

What a freaking blast.

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Team Y also living it up:

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Thanks, Carrie.  I swiped a few pics. 🙂

I’m so ready for the next one!  Any of you in?

~

Saturday night we headed downtown to the Old Market.  Dinner at Old Chicago and a little bar hopping.   Surprisingly, we were all well behaved last night.

Shocking.  I know.

Sunday: besides a trip to the gym for a quick lifting session, our day can pretty much be summed up from this pic:

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Cheers to another great weekend!   Now, if Monday-Friday will just hurry on by, I’ve got another good weekend ahead!

🙂